SV STEM LECTURE SERIES
HOSTS PALEONTOLOGIST
A Seneca Valley STEM Lecture was held from 9:45 to
10:50 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 18, in the intermediate high school
auditorium. The lecture was presented by Dr. Matthew Lamanna,
assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Carnegie
Museum of Natural History.
Dr. Lamanna is a paleontologist and the principal dinosaur
researcher at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.
He received his Bachelors of Science Degree from Hobart College
in 1997 and his Masters of Science Degree and Ph.D. from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1999 and 2004, respectively. Within
the past 18 years, he has directed or co-directed field expeditions
to Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, China, Egypt and Greenland
that have resulted in the discovery of multiple new species of
dinosaurs and other Cretaceous-aged animals. Since 2012, has
served as the lead Principal Investigator and project director
of the Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project. Dr. Lamanna
and colleagues’ most significant finds include the gigantic new
titanosaurian sauropods (long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs)
Dreadnoughtus, Notocolossus and Paralititan. He also led the
study of the bizarre bird-like dinosaur Anzu wyliei, also known as
the ‘Chicken from Hell,’ and co-discovered dozens of beautifully
preserved fossils of the approximately 120 million-year-old bird
Gansus yumenensis in China. He also served as chief scientific
advisor to Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s $36 million
dinosaur exhibition, Dinosaurs in Their Time, and has made
TV appearances on PBS (NOVA), the Discovery Channel, the
History Channel, A&E, the Science Channel, and more. He lives
in Seven Fields, Pennsylvania with his wife Mandi.
This was the second lecture this year featured as part of the
Seneca Valley STEM Lecture Series.
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eneca Valley
ONE-OF-A-KIND
MUSICIANSHIP OPPORTUNITY
OFFERED AT SV
Currently there are six artists in residence teachers.
Approximately 60 students participate 15 times a semester (about
once per week) in grades 9 through 12. Masters of their trade, the
artists have been chosen based on need and recommendations
from the music department who have music degrees or specialized
music training.
*Please Note: SV teachers, based on their own specialties, teach
some of the individual musicianship courses in addition to the
Resident Artists.
30 PERCENT
This year, 26 Seneca Valley students made the Westminster
Honor Choir, making up almost 30 percent of the honors
ensemble.
The Westminster Honor Choir is a choir which consists of
96 singers from Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties.
Students from 45 schools are eligible to learn two selections for
auditions. They must be able to sing any section of each of those
songs a capella for a group of three judges. The top 12 scores in
each section qualify for the Honor Choir.
“We are so proud of all students who participated in the
audition,” says Seneca Valley Intermediate High School Music
Teacher, Ms. Bobi-Jean Alexander. “Everyone did well and Seneca
Valley was very well represented this year with 26 students!”
The Honor Choir concert was held at Westminster College in
the auditorium at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Honor Choir members included (number before name denotes
chair, number after name denotes grade):
Soprano 1
Tenor 1
3- Reagan Curry (10)
9-Tyler Mortier (11)
7-Amber Gorog (12)
10- Ryan Lipscomb (10)
8- Caitlin Bliss (11)
12- Josh Bannon (11)
11- Shirlann Harmon (11)
Soprano 2
Tenor 2
3- Ava Minutello (12)
3- Mike Trauman (12)
4- Emma Walsh (11)
8-Anthony Bale (10)
9-Olivia Forte (10)
10- Jordan Ritchey (10)
Alto 1
Bass 1
6-Anna Stroupe (11)
5- Jake Nehrer (11)
9- Paige Hurbanek (12)
7- Josh Hahn (12)
Alto 2
Bass 2
3- Ashlinn Meechan (12)
2- Charlie Lisella (12)
6- Kim McGinnis (12)
7- Trey Darak (12)
8- Mikayla Davis (10)
8- Kenny Rochford (12)
9-Brittany Brock (10)
9- Joseph Brinker (12)
12- Matt Kraynik (11)
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE VISITS
ROWAN
A unique, rarely seen program is happening inside Seneca
Valley’s high schools.
Students enrolled in an Individual Musicianship class and who
have demonstrated the ability to be able to work independently,
are given the opportunity to work with artist in residence teachers
in a one-on-one setting.
46 Cranberry
Rowan third grade students had a unique opportunity to be
taught by an Artist in Residence this October. Ms. Katy Dement,
a fiber and active teaching artist, presented an introductory
assembly to third grade students, staff and parents in Rowan’s
cafeteria on Oct. 11 at 1:50 p.m.
In addition, Dement taught individual third grade classes on
Thursday, Oct. 13, guiding students through the process of making
their own paper from recycled materials they have gathered.
During her time with Rowan Elementary, students learned
geography, as well as map and research skills, as they discovered